Word of the Day: Sacrifice
In the early winter of 1918, after four years of a terrible war that destroyed much of Europe, the Allies and the Germans decided to stop hostilities on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month . That they could be so poetic in their timing of the cessation of battle, after years of the brutality and horror brought by World War I, is astonishing. The official end of World War I happened later, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June of 1919, but the day that marked the end of fighting was the day that President Wilson chose as Armistice Day, the national holiday to honor the soldiers who served in that war. Of course, the "war to end all wars" did nothing of the kind. As time went on, we added more wars to history, more heroes to be mourned and remembered. In 1954, after World War II and the Korean War, President Eisenhower changed Armistice Day into Veterans Day to honor the heroism of the veterans of all wars. War Stories My father was a veteran of the K...